Designed Stairs

Designed Stairs has the experience to design structural, open-riser staircases that are also beautiful works of contemporary art.

  • Getting the Most from Your Stair Dollar

    Part 1 of 4 — Overview

    Milled stairs may cost from $2,000 for a hardwood stair with wall rails, to $200,000 on the high end.  Most of us are shopping in the $5,000–20,000 range.

    When designing your stair and railing plan, there are three basic factors to keep in mind in order to use your budget wisely: shape, style, and material.

    If you have the luxury of starting from the general shape of your stair (new construction in the blueprint design stage) consider the shape first.  If your space/shape is already defined, it may limit controlling that aspect of your budget, but there are still two aspects to consider.

    Which is more important to you: style or material?  If are you are dead set on walnut, you may need to look at mixing it with stocked poplar parts for balusters and newels. If you have a style you are set on, such as stainless cable, most of your budget will go to that, and you may consider a simpler oak stair.

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  • A Second-Generation Family-Owned Business

    Bob at a work site

    We are a second-generation family-owned business. Bob DuCharme started Designed Stairs in 1969.

    Like most stair companies, Designed Stairs was initially focused on installing stairs, and parts were purchased from other companies. After many incidents of parts coming in late, or not meeting our quality standards, we started manufacturing our own. Today we are a full service custom mill manufacturer. Each part is made to the highest level of precision, which was our first step in improving stair parts.

    In 1981 we incorporated under the name of DESIGNED STAIRS, INC. (DSI). The name was chosen to reflect the fact that we RE-DESIGNED stairs as we knew them. If you look outside the Midwest you will still see companies using inefficient or outdated methods. DSI continues to lead the development of the stair industry in the Chicagoland. 

    We are the largest stair builder and manufacturer in the Chicagoland, and the leader for high-end stairs. We employ 40 individuals who have a combined stair experience of nearly 700 years. Nowhere else in the world can you find the level of stair expertise that is under our roof. 

    From the beginning, Bob DuCharme instituted a culture of learning, growth, and problem solving. Whether we are making custom parts or designing stairs, our focus is always on how we can do this efficiently, to a higher degree of accuracy, and with the greatest aesthetic appeal. The foundational principles that Bob put in place 50 years ago still ring true today. These principles are what continue to set us apart.

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  • Should painted balusters be installed at the same time as the stair?

    Painted balusters

    If you are buying a stair with balusters in a contrasting material, such as painted balusters on an oak stair, questions will likely arise regarding the finishing of the stair. “Should my painter finish the balusters separately from the stair, then have the balusters installed when the stair is finished?

    Here are some things to consider:

    • Your painter will generally opt for painting the balusters before installation. This allows them to be sprayed instead of brushed and eliminates a lot of “cut-in” work.

    • Painting balusters separately also means that the stair installers will have to come back to the site, remove the railings and install the balusters. There will be charge for this “second trip” to the jobsite. You will have to remember to schedule this “second trip” in coordination with the completion of the finish.

    • Leaving your balusters out for painting means that they are more likely to be lost or stolen during this time. You will be responsible for balusters left at the jobsite.

    • Once the painted balusters are finally installed, there will be additional “touch-up finishing required at the rail joints. Holes will have to be filled and stain and finish re-applied for the final finish.

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  • Curved Assembled Stairs

    At Designed Stairs we rate the difficulty of installation on a scale of 1 to 5, with level 1 being the simplest to install for a good trim carpenter, and level 5 requiring the highest level of stair installation specialist. Most often, curved stairs are categorized as level 1 or level 2. This makes assembled curved stairs a great option for some builders. We take care of the designing and building processes, and your trim carpenters take care of the installation.

    Here’s how it works:

    We start by looking at the plans to determine if assembled stairs will work for the specific project.  It is important to consider things like the shape and configuration of the stairs, if they will fit through the door assembled, among other factors. 

    Our technicians and engineer fine tune the stair’s design for the final product to flow beautifully as one piece, considering any transitions between multiple radii on the stringers and rails. 

    We can provide framing details for the walls around the stairs as needed to make sure that the stairs will fit precisely on site.  We then build this same framing on the decks at our shop to build the stairs and fit the rails to.  Once completed, the stair is taken down in one piece and the rail in a separate piece for delivery.  Delivery is provided by Designed Stairs throughout our standard service area (all of Chicagoland, NW Indiana, and SE Wisconsin) and by common carrier elsewhere. 

    Once the stair is on site, installation is very straightforward, and we provide any instructions needed.  Since the stair is in one piece, it only needs to be fit at the header and the rest will fall into place.  At this point, the curved walls around the stairs can be framed.  Once newels are fit, rails can be installed quickly since they are already fit to the stair. 

    For more complex stairs, we offer full installation throughout the Chicagoland and installation training or assistance by one of our level 5 skill installers in any location.  This is a great option if you have a highly skilled trim carpentry team that just needs some specific direction. 

     

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